Long time no update! I am trying to put my life together and figure out what I am doing here for a while. The past few weeks have been pretty stressful with figuring out school (and many many VERY last minute changes - changed schools on the day of class registration!), trying to find a job, and trying to get back to sewing!
I just got a sewing machine and serger yesterday and they will be delivered today, so hopefully that will help me kill some time :)
When I get settled down properly I will update again!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Honey MV and Mainstream Lolita in General
A recent music video by 郭書瑤 called "Honey" has the Taiwanese lolitas talking! Mostly it was posted because she is wearing lolita in some parts of the MV, but I think that the MV in general is enjoyable for lolitas (particularly sweet lolitas!)
Many delectable sweets are shown throughout, which is what I am most interested in ;D
The video is posted after the jump! See if you can recognize the dress ;)
I could not find the apron version, but it is this print by Bodyline
in the blue colorway!
Every time lolita shows up in the mainstream, there always seems to be the debate of whether it's a good thing or not... Personally I feel that as long as it is worn correctly or is not labeled lolita it is fine. I just don't like misrepresentation!
The most memorable "Mainstream Lolita Done Wrong" incident I can remember is Lil Mama's outfit with AP's Fruit Parlor
It may not be lolita, but she did not call it Lolita Fashion, so I feel that it is OK. There is no rule stating that Brand must be coordinated a certain way! Lil Mama has since worn a couple more AP pieces in non-lolita coords, but I think she makes it work in her own way :)
More recently Paramore has also had a MV with a Bodyline lolita dress in it.
which I think looks lovely!
So I cannot seem to understand why some people are completely against any form of lolita showing up in mainstream media. If you are going to rage, rage at people who go on TV to "educate" people about Lolita Fashion and do it wrong
*cough*Jessica Simpson*cough*
Many delectable sweets are shown throughout, which is what I am most interested in ;D
The video is posted after the jump! See if you can recognize the dress ;)
I could not find the apron version, but it is this print by Bodyline
in the blue colorway!
Every time lolita shows up in the mainstream, there always seems to be the debate of whether it's a good thing or not... Personally I feel that as long as it is worn correctly or is not labeled lolita it is fine. I just don't like misrepresentation!
The most memorable "Mainstream Lolita Done Wrong" incident I can remember is Lil Mama's outfit with AP's Fruit Parlor
It may not be lolita, but she did not call it Lolita Fashion, so I feel that it is OK. There is no rule stating that Brand must be coordinated a certain way! Lil Mama has since worn a couple more AP pieces in non-lolita coords, but I think she makes it work in her own way :)
More recently Paramore has also had a MV with a Bodyline lolita dress in it.
which I think looks lovely!
So I cannot seem to understand why some people are completely against any form of lolita showing up in mainstream media. If you are going to rage, rage at people who go on TV to "educate" people about Lolita Fashion and do it wrong
*cough*Jessica Simpson*cough*
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Still Alive!
Wow a lot has happened in this past month! I joined a summer camp called Love Boat and had no chance to wear lolita at all. It only just ended on the 6th and I have begun to wear my normal lolita clothes again. My camera broke on the trip so there are not going to be more photos until I can get a new one... otherwise I have crappy cell phone camera I can take photos with!
The one lolita-related expedition I did manage to squeeze in during this past month was a visit to J-Live at ShiLin Night Market. J-Live sells punk, Goth, and Lolita clothes. When I visited, they were carrying K-Star replicas of Milky Fawn by Angelic Pretty and Rococo Accessories by BABY. The fabric quality feels pretty good and the print is clear, detailed, and actually still has "Angelic Pretty" and "Baby, the Stars Shine Bright" on it! Photographs were forbidden at J-Live, but I did sneak one photo of a blouse I tried on. Many places do not allow trying on of clothes, but J-Live allows all blouses, tops, dresses, and shoes to be tried on before buying, which is great because they still cost considerably more than most other night market stalls. An OP ran around US$100+ and blouses were around US$30
Sorry for the bad facial expression!!
The blouse was a little tight in the bust for me (this is a first!) so if you have a bust measure of more than 35" you probably will be unable to find a blouse that doesn't gap... most of the blouses are one size! The gaping here is minimal so a hidden snap could fix the problem.
It was also a little tight around the armhole, but that could be cut lower to allow for more movement.
There was no extra seam allowance to let out the side seams (all seams were serged together) so there is little room for alterations with this blouse. Most of the other blouses I looked at were constructed in the same manner, just with different frills and ruffles on them.
The lace on the majority of the dresses and blouses were good cotton lace or soft embroidered netting lace. Considering the amount of ita/cosplay lolita stores I have seen, I was very excited to find that J-Live uses much better materials!
I took sneaky photos of one of the 3 or 4 ita shops my roommate Jenny and I went into at FongJia Night Market (The one Night Market to RULE THEM ALL!)
I had to take these on my cell phone without looking so they are not that great...
Gothic Maid Lolita? The material was scratchy and the skirt was very very short
Wa-Lolita made of satin-y material
Some "Lolita", some not. I think these shops were catering towards moe complex type of customers...
Apart from J-Live at ShiLin Night Market, K-Star replicas are also sold at Kira Punk at XiMenDing, which is a very large market area catering towards a younger crowd. Kira Punk is much smaller and carries more punk and goth, but has many more accessories. The shop girl is a lot less friendly than the one at J-Live though, so I would prefer to go to J-Live than Kira Punk!
The one lolita-related expedition I did manage to squeeze in during this past month was a visit to J-Live at ShiLin Night Market. J-Live sells punk, Goth, and Lolita clothes. When I visited, they were carrying K-Star replicas of Milky Fawn by Angelic Pretty and Rococo Accessories by BABY. The fabric quality feels pretty good and the print is clear, detailed, and actually still has "Angelic Pretty" and "Baby, the Stars Shine Bright" on it! Photographs were forbidden at J-Live, but I did sneak one photo of a blouse I tried on. Many places do not allow trying on of clothes, but J-Live allows all blouses, tops, dresses, and shoes to be tried on before buying, which is great because they still cost considerably more than most other night market stalls. An OP ran around US$100+ and blouses were around US$30
Sorry for the bad facial expression!!
The blouse was a little tight in the bust for me (this is a first!) so if you have a bust measure of more than 35" you probably will be unable to find a blouse that doesn't gap... most of the blouses are one size! The gaping here is minimal so a hidden snap could fix the problem.
It was also a little tight around the armhole, but that could be cut lower to allow for more movement.
There was no extra seam allowance to let out the side seams (all seams were serged together) so there is little room for alterations with this blouse. Most of the other blouses I looked at were constructed in the same manner, just with different frills and ruffles on them.
The lace on the majority of the dresses and blouses were good cotton lace or soft embroidered netting lace. Considering the amount of ita/cosplay lolita stores I have seen, I was very excited to find that J-Live uses much better materials!
I took sneaky photos of one of the 3 or 4 ita shops my roommate Jenny and I went into at FongJia Night Market (The one Night Market to RULE THEM ALL!)
I had to take these on my cell phone without looking so they are not that great...
Gothic Maid Lolita? The material was scratchy and the skirt was very very short
Wa-Lolita made of satin-y material
Some "Lolita", some not. I think these shops were catering towards moe complex type of customers...
Apart from J-Live at ShiLin Night Market, K-Star replicas are also sold at Kira Punk at XiMenDing, which is a very large market area catering towards a younger crowd. Kira Punk is much smaller and carries more punk and goth, but has many more accessories. The shop girl is a lot less friendly than the one at J-Live though, so I would prefer to go to J-Live than Kira Punk!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Lolita Online!
Sorry for a lack of updates recently! I am still getting settled, but have actually been spending a LOT of time online. So I am here today to share some things I have found online. This is really only relevant if you understand Chinese, though, because they are all Chinese sites.
Taiwan BBS Lolita Board
a sub board on the Taiwan BBS forums. It has quite a bit of advertisement and random links everywhere that I don't like :/ The layout makes it rather hard to follow, too in my opinion. This is the board I have been on for the past few months, trying to figure out how Taiwanese lolita fashion is, and if it is different from what I am used to in America
The sidebar provides links to the other sub boards like punk, cosplay, general life boards, etc.
Lolita Online
This forum is Chinese-based but not Taiwan specific. The layout is much better and easier to follow in my opinion (also no adverts everywhere!), and there is a "British English" language option. Most of the posts are in Chinese, though occasionally there are posters who type mainly in English. I only joined a couple days ago, but it seems a nice forum so far :)
Those are the two main forums I could find!
Another website of interest is a teahouse that the Taipei lolitas are planning a meetup at. Unfortunately... I cannot attend because I will be at language camp.
Christina
Very beautiful website! Unfortunately it is a fairly expensive place...
It has French style afternoon tea and the site has lots of photos to browse even if you can't read the writings :) I really hope that I can visit here sometime!
Well, it is 3AM and I have been awake for 4 hours. Jet lag is a terrible, terrible thing and has resulted in much Pokemon being played.
Taiwan BBS Lolita Board
a sub board on the Taiwan BBS forums. It has quite a bit of advertisement and random links everywhere that I don't like :/ The layout makes it rather hard to follow, too in my opinion. This is the board I have been on for the past few months, trying to figure out how Taiwanese lolita fashion is, and if it is different from what I am used to in America
The sidebar provides links to the other sub boards like punk, cosplay, general life boards, etc.
Lolita Online
This forum is Chinese-based but not Taiwan specific. The layout is much better and easier to follow in my opinion (also no adverts everywhere!), and there is a "British English" language option. Most of the posts are in Chinese, though occasionally there are posters who type mainly in English. I only joined a couple days ago, but it seems a nice forum so far :)
Those are the two main forums I could find!
Another website of interest is a teahouse that the Taipei lolitas are planning a meetup at. Unfortunately... I cannot attend because I will be at language camp.
Christina
Very beautiful website! Unfortunately it is a fairly expensive place...
It has French style afternoon tea and the site has lots of photos to browse even if you can't read the writings :) I really hope that I can visit here sometime!
Well, it is 3AM and I have been awake for 4 hours. Jet lag is a terrible, terrible thing and has resulted in much Pokemon being played.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
The Eagle Has Landed!
Or should I say, the Butterfly has landed? I do not feel very fierce like an eagle!
I landed in Taiwan at 9:30 PM yesterday (Taipei time) and am pretty tired! The trip was fairly uneventful. Flight attendants on the MN to Tokyo leg of the trip were rather less friendly than I expected :/ And the food was awful. The sandwich we were given as a snack had a VERY strong chemical odor to it, and left a chemical aftertaste in my mouth for about an hour after eating it.
The fact that about 2 days before leaving I saw a news report about airline food safety violations did not help ease my worries at all. On the positive side, I do not eat meat so I pretty much just ate rice, salad, and bread for every meal :) Hopefully that reduces my chance of food poisoning? I know for a fact that airlines and airports have pretty poor sanitation. I worked for 2 years at the Minneapolis St.Paul International Airport, and yes, I have seen mice there. The one that scurries around the backroom of our store is named Charlie. While it is true that Duty Free does not serve food, Chili's happens to be right next door. And Charlie often paid a visit there. Perhaps we should all bring our own sandwiches and snacks from home in the future...
The service from Tokyo to Taipei was much, much better. Flight attendants were much more polite and did not run into things with their carts. They also did not tell people to serve themselves (that actually happened on the way over to Tokyo - I was pretty shocked!)
I did not get any photos from any of the airports I was in because the connection was too tight at the Tokyo airport (I would have loved to get photos there!) and I was so tired when finally landing at Taipei. Our flight was slightly delayed from MN to Tokyo so as soon as we landed I had to get to the gate and boarding began right away! I also did not get any photos of my outfit! I wore a casual lolita dress that did not fit in my suitcase. It was the white Alice JSK that I made for NakamaCon. Very good for traveling because the A-line shape looks fine without a petticoat and can pass for a regular sundress when worn without a blouse. I did bring a thin cardi to wear over it for the cold airplane rides, but removed it as soon as I landed because Taiwan is so hot and muggy right now! My hair was kept in simple braided pigtails and the only jewelry I wore was my BABY ribbon lace-up ring that I always wear :)
In about a week I will be attending a language immersion camp for a month! I hope to have some fun photos to share by then :)
I landed in Taiwan at 9:30 PM yesterday (Taipei time) and am pretty tired! The trip was fairly uneventful. Flight attendants on the MN to Tokyo leg of the trip were rather less friendly than I expected :/ And the food was awful. The sandwich we were given as a snack had a VERY strong chemical odor to it, and left a chemical aftertaste in my mouth for about an hour after eating it.
The fact that about 2 days before leaving I saw a news report about airline food safety violations did not help ease my worries at all. On the positive side, I do not eat meat so I pretty much just ate rice, salad, and bread for every meal :) Hopefully that reduces my chance of food poisoning? I know for a fact that airlines and airports have pretty poor sanitation. I worked for 2 years at the Minneapolis St.Paul International Airport, and yes, I have seen mice there. The one that scurries around the backroom of our store is named Charlie. While it is true that Duty Free does not serve food, Chili's happens to be right next door. And Charlie often paid a visit there. Perhaps we should all bring our own sandwiches and snacks from home in the future...
The service from Tokyo to Taipei was much, much better. Flight attendants were much more polite and did not run into things with their carts. They also did not tell people to serve themselves (that actually happened on the way over to Tokyo - I was pretty shocked!)
I did not get any photos from any of the airports I was in because the connection was too tight at the Tokyo airport (I would have loved to get photos there!) and I was so tired when finally landing at Taipei. Our flight was slightly delayed from MN to Tokyo so as soon as we landed I had to get to the gate and boarding began right away! I also did not get any photos of my outfit! I wore a casual lolita dress that did not fit in my suitcase. It was the white Alice JSK that I made for NakamaCon. Very good for traveling because the A-line shape looks fine without a petticoat and can pass for a regular sundress when worn without a blouse. I did bring a thin cardi to wear over it for the cold airplane rides, but removed it as soon as I landed because Taiwan is so hot and muggy right now! My hair was kept in simple braided pigtails and the only jewelry I wore was my BABY ribbon lace-up ring that I always wear :)
In about a week I will be attending a language immersion camp for a month! I hope to have some fun photos to share by then :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)